League Rules

1.1 Club Affiliation: Each team participating in the league is encouraged to represent a Capital Area club, although not required. A team can also represent another organization, or simply themselves.

1.2 Rosters: A team roster must consist of a minimum of 3 players, with no maximum. Team rosters must be submitted prior to the season registration deadline. Changes to the roster can be made until the start of the league season, provided that they do not change the team’s division placement, as determined by the league committee. After the start of the league season, roster replacements will not be permitted. However, if for a valid reason, a team finds itself short of players for any given meet-up, up to two non-rostered substitute players will be allowed to play (as a one-time occurrence), provided that the substitute player is rated lower than the player he/she is substituting for (at the time of substitution), and the substitute player is not already rostered for another team in the same division.

1.3 Individual Ratings: Each player on a team roster must have an individual rating, which will be the USATT tournament rating or the Capital Area league rating, whichever is higher. If a player does not have a USATT tournament rating or a Capital Area league rating, then another league rating can be used. Current ratings as of the league entry deadline for the season are used for team ratings. In special circumstances a rating may be assigned to an unrated player whose level is known.

1.4 League Rating Calculation: Starting Fall 2018 Season, the League will perform rating calculation with each contest. Each player’s match will be calulated and their rating will be adjusted occordingly after each meetup. Player’s post season’s rating will be carried over to future seasons. A Higher USATT adjusted rating may be used at the beginning of a new season if said adjustment occured within the previous six (6) months.

1.5 Team Ratings: A team’s rating is the average of individual ratings of players on the team roster. At the beginning of each season, The League will use each returning team player's rating from the previous season in order to calculate the average team rating.
For returning team members with a higher USATT updated rating than The League’s previous season’s rating, we will use this updated rating as the returning player’s current rating. There are no rating restrictions.

1.6 Team Captains: Each team is responsible for designating one team captain. The team captain will serve as the primary contact and spokesperson for the team. League related communication, including scheduling and rule related-issues, will go through the team captain.

1.7 Highest Rated Players: Each team’s top two rated players must participate in a minimum of one meetup per season. Failure to do so, the League reserves the right to ban such player (or players) from future league participation -on any team, for a periord of one (1) year.

1.8 Team Name and Color: Each team should indicate a team name and a team color. Team name and color are at the discretion of the team.

1.9 USATT Membership: USATT membership is NOT required to play in the league.

1.10 Team Fees: Each team is required to pay the team fee, set by the league committee before the start of the season.Please note that all money collected will be used to pay for prizes and operational expenses. The league committee is made up of volunteers, who will receive no compensation.

Divisions

2.1 Division Assignments: Each team will be assigned to a division based on team rating. Additionally, a) any team that finished first in its division in the previous season will be given a team rating boost of 200 points, b) any team that finished second in its division in the previous season will be given a team rating boost of 100 point. The team receiving the boost also has the option not to exercise the boost (if, for example, the team thinks they could end up being placed in a higher division than they would like). The League Committee, in its sole discretion, may also decide to host a pre-season meet-up to establish division placements.

2.2 Division Format: Divisions will generally be composed of 4-6 teams. Each team will play every other team in the division twice over the course of the season. Matches will occur during monthly meet-ups.

2.3 Scheduling: Schedule will be available on the league web site. Captains will be notified of any schedule changes.

2.4 Prizes: Trophies/Medals will be awarded to winning team and runner-up. Additional prizes, including monetary prizes, may be added at the discretion of the league committee, depending on every season’s budgetary situation.

Competition Rules

Competition will follow USATT rules with additional guidelines for league play outlined in this section.

3.1 Team Contest Format: Each team contest will have a total of 7 individual matches, with 3 players per team playing against each other as follows.

Home Team Away Team

Player A Player X

Player B Player Y

Player C Player Z

Player A Player Y

Player C Player X

Player B Player Z

Doubles (any players) Doubles (any players)

3.1.1 All Matches Played: All individual matches are played out regardless of the score in the team contest. Individual matches are best of 5 games to 11 points. However, at the sole discretion of the team captains, in case a team contest protracts longer than expected, the team captains can decide to have individual best-of-3 matches. Both team captains need to agree, in order for this instance to occur. League organizers also reserve the option to adjust the format for division finals, to adapt to spectators’ preference.

3.1.2 Two Player Rule: If only two players show up for a league match, then they will default not only the singles matches of the missing player, but the doubles matches as well. This is to prevent a team from trying to win a league match by sending only two strong players. Exceptions can be made by the league committee in extreme cases, especially if notified in advance, but not (for example) so players can play in 4-star or lower tournaments. If a third player cannot play because of sickness or injury but shows up to cheer his teammates, or has a doctor's note, then that team will not default the doubles.

3.2 Team Points: Teams will earn as many points as their wins in individual matches. Additionally, if a team wins the majority of the individual matches, it will earn an additional bonus point. Therefore, the total number of points a team can earn is 8. A team defaulting a game will be given 0 points, and the other team will gain the full 8 points.

3.3 Division Standing: The standing in each division will be determined by the number of team contest points earned (including bonus points). If two or more members of the group have gained the same number of points, their relative positions shall be determined only by the results of the contests between them, by considering successively, the ratios of wins to losses in individual matches, and games, as far as is necessary to resolve the order.

3.4 Warm-up: 30 minutes prior to the scheduled team contest start time will be allotted for warm-up/practice (15 minutes per team). Warm-up will be on the designated competition tables for the contest only (unless use of other tables is allowed by the club/venue operator). Club/venue policies must be followed.

3.5 Defaults: Ten minutes after the scheduled contest start time is default time. In the event a team does not show up within ten minutes of the scheduled start time, whichever team is present at the scheduled time is responsible for reporting the default.

3.6 Default Without Notice To The Committee: Team captain is required to inform the committee via email when his/her team intends to default a specific meetup. Failing to do so, will result in a penalty against such team.
In addition to losing eight standing points to each opposing team -in the contest schedule for that meetup, the committee will penalize the team with 10 points. These penalty points are deducted from the team’s overall standing points for that particular season.
Teams not showing up to planned meetup date and without advanced notice, seriously inconvenience other teams in the division -who may be traveling a greate distance to the venue.

3.7 Balls: The league committee will supply balls. The league is supported by Paddle Palace and will Nittaku Premium plastic balls will be used for each season.

3.8 Club / home venue: League participants and spectators are subject to the rules and policies of the home venue/club hosting a team contest.

3.9 Uniforms: Each team must have uniforms consisting of team shirts of the same color. Including the club or organization name and/or the team name on a team’s uniform is preferred, but not required. Players must compete in uniform for all matches of the contest.

3.10 Results Submission: Match results from a team contest must be submitted by the home team to a designated member or the League Committee or the Division Coordinator immediately following the end of the team contest. League organizers will provide a form to report the results.

3.11 Rule Violations: Rule violations should be reported by a team captain to the League Committee and are subject to the following guidelines: a) any rule violation must be reported within 48 hours of the violation or the point/game/match/contest will stand as is, b) teams with more than three infractions of the same rule during the season may be subject to additional penalties including disqualification from the remainder of the season.

For other rule violations or misconduct, the league organizers will determine an appropriate resolution and/or penalty. Penalties for rule violations, unsporting behavior, or other misconduct may include: loss of ranking points, loss of match, loss of team contest, suspension of player or team from future team contests, expulsion of player or team from league.

3.12 Liability Waiver: The league committee does not assume any liability. Each team captain and player will be required to submit a signed waiver of liability form prior to the first team contest.